Bismarck weekly tribune., 1887-05-13
BISMARCK WEEKLY TRIBUNE: FRIDAY NAY Is, 1887.

ARCk WEEKLY TRIBUl
PRISON PUNISHMENT.
CORRECTIVE TREATMENT OF RE-
FRAcToRY PRISONERS At SING SING.
Wrists-The Agony Suffered by Pris-
oner in a Dark Cell-One Mans Ex-
perience. a
A visitor going through Sing Sing prison is
struck by a square room, comparatively
small for that place, that has cleaner and
brighter appearance than any other room in
the entire institution, the chaplain's office not
excepted. The entrance is on a level with
the ground, the entire center is taken up with
a framework of brick that is followed out on
two sides into cells, and the entire place is as
white as lime can make it. The tagged cor
ridor running around the cells is spotless and
the place is as quiet as tomb. The cells are
perfectly bare of furniture and are for the
greater part of the time empty. They are
doubly guarded, for besides the usual heavy
grated door they have door made of heavy
planks that sets in close to the masonry
They are in striking contrast to the walls for
they are painted black. A raised section of
wood work in the center of them admits air
into the cell through winding channels,
through which not even the faintest ray of
light can force its way. As cheerful as the
place looks to the visitor it is bugbear to the
prisoners, for these are the dark cells
This is one of the two forms of punishment
inflicted upon the refractory prisoners in Sing
Sing, and it is a punishment so horrible that
the mere threat of dark cell carries with it
more terrors than the actual infiiction of the
other punishment, which consists of stringing
up prisoners by their wrists. The apparatus
for this is in the same building, and consists
OF piece of heavy timber about eighteen
inches square that slides up and down in q
groove. In the center of the square is q hook.
The victim is handcuffed and the link con-
Meeting the cuffs is slipped over this hook and
the block is raised up until the prisoners
feet leave the floor. This point is generally
signaled by a scream from the unhappy
wretch who is suspended, Principal Keeper
Connaughton said, not more than fifteen or
twenty seconds II have seen statements to
that effect" said he, "that blood frequently
gushes from the wrists of prisoners punished
In this way; that it often cripples them for
life; that prisoners are hung up for five and
ten minutes, and that the punishment is fire.
quently inflicted
BUT FEW SECONDS.
"None of these statements is true, In the
first place, no living man could stand being
strung up as long time as that. The pun
ishment is not inflicted here once a month,
and during my long experience in prison I
have never known of blood being forced
through the skin by the pressure A short
time ago a party of visitors were shown
through here. One Of them was a man about
81 years of age. He had an idea that men
were hung up by the wrists for hours at a
time. When told him that the punishment
never lasted more than few seconds he was
not inclined to believe it. I sent for a pair
Of handouts, and he consented to let me
hang him up for a few seconds. Just as soon
as the strain began he cried out, and his toes
had scarcely left the ground before he was
lmploring me to let him down. There was q
faint red line around his wrists, and that was
ALL"
As terrible as this punishment is it is moth.
prisoner who is locked up in a dark CELL A
young fellow was taken to Sing Sing about
a year ago to serve a five years sentence. He
began his term of imprisonment by disobey.
ing every order given him by the keepers.
He was reasoned with. and efforts were made
to show him that he was hurting nobody as
much as he was hurting himself But he was
both lazy and vicious, and he was strung ur
by the wrists. The punishment kept him
straight for few days, but it was soon found
necessary to string him up again The second
punishment seemed to have no effect, and
then he was placed in dark CELL At the ex.
piration of a few hours the door was opened,
and the young man rushed out with face as
pale as death, and shaking in every limb. He
behaved himself for q week. and then fell
into his old ways again.
Il think shall have to put you in the dark
cell again." said Mr.. Connaughton to him.
"Oh, don't do that" he pleaded. "flease
string me up; that isn't half SO frightful."
Thereafter the mere mention of the dark
cell was SO fraught with terrors that it was
enough to bring him to terms and make him
industrious and obedient.
THREE HOURS OF TORTURE
II was punished once by being placed in q
dark cell for several hours" said an ex.
convict. ''The moment the wooden doc,
was closed the darkness seemed to jumr
right at me. It was not the darkness
Of night, but a heavy, thick backness
that you could almost feel, and that seemed
to settle upon you and crush you down.
Slowly it became suffocating, and little
sharp rays of light began to dance be-
fore my eyes; horrible forms, conjured up by
the imagination, began growing out of the
blackness. and I fancied I could hear de-
moniacal laughter. threw myself down on
the floor and tried to sleep. lost conscious.
ness for time and thought had been there
all day, and that it was then night. The
blackness assumed a different shape, and
seemed to form itself into waves like the
bosom of a troubled ocean. The billows
rolled all about me, and occasionally seemed
to envelop me. I struggled out of them
wildly, but again they came tumbling toward
me and again covered me up, and then felt
as though l was being slowly suffocated
Little sparks and flashes Of light sprang out
of the blackness and shot toward me, but all
seemed to fall short.
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